My computer has become a bit a nuisance lately. You
see, over time, my laptop has gone from
top-of-the-line to essentially living on life support.
My Mouse no longer works, my battery pack no longer
stays on the computer so I have to have it plugged in
at all times, the wireless card is inconsistent, etc.,
etc. I bring this up because my recent blog went caput
after my computer shut down (which I think it did just
for kicks). That particular blog was written just
prior to me traveling to Phoenix for an EAS photo
shoot, a bike fit, and a visit to a PT at Endurance
Rehab.
This photo shoot was not exactly like the last one. It
involved a full body harness, a skinsuit, and odd
facial expressions. I'll sum it up as "Super Hero
Shark Man." You'll see what I mean.
The highlight of these trips always involves the
dinner/socializing afterwards. The creative folks
working on the ads, and the folks at EAS, are always
great company. I also had the chance to meet Larry
Fitzgerald who seemed superhuman when he
single-handedly beat TAMU's secondary a few years
ago. His presence (at the shoot) made the whole
situation seem a bit surreal, but he was quite
down-to-earth and had exceptional class. Most folks
would probably get that impression when they seem him
in an interview and it (most certainly) is not an act.
After the photo shoot was over I said my good byes and
ventured out into the 112-degree heat to head across
town to Bicycle Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. Coach Joe and
I spent a couple hours there getting the new Javelin
Barolo dialed into a solid aerodynamic (and powerful)
position. There weren't too many major changes from
the past. One of the biggest changes is moving my
cleats as far back as my current shoes allow. We are
trying this in an effort to see if power output is
increased, while calf overload is lowered (double
bonus for triathletes that have to run off the bike).
Joe cited a study about cycling economy having zero
relation to cleat placement so we'll see how it goes.
After my bike fit we headed over to Endurance Rehab. I
am currently nursing some irritation around my right
patella and I wanted to get an opinion on why this
occurred, how I could prevent it, and how I could
expedite the healing. Nothing major to report;
exceptionally tight hip flexors and calf muscles
likely caused this problem. I've decided to rest the
legs until Saturday before attempting to ease back
into things. Keep your fingers crossed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When I travel, I read. I really enjoy to read books
when I travel and when I'm in Sweden (random, but its
really dark and gloomy there). I rarely get the chance
to read books in full when I'm training heavily. Some
athletes seem to have the ability to multitask on top
of their training, but not me. It seems that the only
way I can make it through each day is to focus all of
my mental and physical energy on swimming, biking, and
running. When the day is done I stare at the wall.
Anyway, I read another one of Chuck Klosterman's books
("Killing Yourself To Live") on my flight to Phoenix.
I get a kick out of his writing. I'm not really sure
why. I suppose I can identify a bit with his
quirkiness and his ability to think about (and
comment) on lots of arbitrary (and yet, totally
important) things. There are also moments in my own
life that could possibly be inserted into one of his
books.
One such example:
Some time ago I found myself to be interested in this
one young lady. After talking on and off over the
course of a week or two, we came to a discussion about
music. I am not nearly as hip as might want to be
(again, being hip takes extra energy) and I don't
pretend to be. I could care less about what anybody
listens to. They can be a musical elitist or just like
what's on TRL. I don't care. Actually, indifference is the only thing that typically strikes me as odd.
Anyway, I soon lost interest in her. I never really
understood why (probably because I was tired), but
some time later I started to think about our music
conversation on a long ride.
You see, lady X's favorite band was a band I dislike
(a lot). I didn't mention it at the time, but I did
consciously think about it.
Back to me on the bike.
So I sat there asking myself: "Did I lose interest
because of who her favorite band is? NO... ...Did I? No.
No. Surely I didn't... ....No." I'm not sure if my
subconscious made that decision for me or not. I
(think I) have never let political, social, musical,
artistic, etc. differences ever interfere with my
feelings towards someone, but who knows.
Now, I don't think I can relate to Klosterman's
pattern of thinking (and writing) because I may, or
may not, have lost interest in someone because of
their musical taste. I just think we both would have
asked the same idiotic questions if identical
scenarios presented themselves. We just couldn't leave
it at: "I lost interest."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I get a little excited when I haven't been performing
my normal training load. I'll retire from such
verbose, banal postings once I get tired again.
Go Stros,
jd
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